Thailand tourism situation

[PeteC]

Agreed. Maybe something like "Thailand Tourism Situation".

Sounds fine. I already changed it, but will change it again.

[Dannie Boy]

According to the Pattaya News, there were 57,000 arrivals at Suvarnabhumi yesterday, almost at pre-Covid levels of 60,000 on average!!

[buksida]

Arrivals do not equal tourists, but TAT hasn't figured that out yet.

Either way, things are slowly improving on the tourism front, yes. I think the legal Mary Jo has helped, Sukhumvit Soi 11 is the new weed haven apparently.

[Big Boy]

There is very little sign of returning to normal on my traditional Hua Hin Yardstick gauges yet. Maybe up to 3 abreast on Soi 94, but that's the only real sign so far. Mid-November is not a good month to gauge anything in respect of tourism returning to normal.

[HHTel]

I thought this 'quite funny' - TIT:

An Indian tourist’s night has gone completely wrong after the sex worker he hired turned out to be transgender. The unnamed tourist said he hired a stranger whom he originally thought was a woman to go to his hotel room on Soi 8 in Bang Lamung.

But the tourist said that once they got back to his room, he noticed that the sex worker was transgender. The tourist then asked for his 1,500 baht back, but the sex worker reportedly refused. The tourist added that the sex worker became aggressive.

The tourist said that on top of the gender confusion, he also realised later that the sex worker had snatched his wristwatch, which he said was expensive.

The tourist reported the sex worker at Pattaya Police Station. But at the police station, the tables were turned when police informed him that he had broken the law too.

The police told the tourist that he had violated Thai prostitution laws, and they would have to charge him, along with the sex worker.

https://thethaiger.com/news/pattaya/vid ... rCw9svaFCM

[Big Boy]

As I drove home, up Soi 94 earlier, there was a significant increase in the number of tourists walking about. My son mentioned it as well. OK, my drive up Soi 94 was only a couple of minutes in time, and I may have been lucky seeing them all, but for the end of November, it looked very promising. Has anybody else noticed a sudden influx?

[buksida]

There were a fair few people about on Sunday night in the bars and restaurants but hard to tell whether they were expats or tourists.

Kanchanaburi wasn't as busy as it usually is this time of year (pre-Covid).

[Dannie Boy]

As posted on the Indian restaurant page, we were out last night at Atcha and on the way back we travelled via the main road back into town and we all commented that most of the restaurants and food stalls were busy and there was also a lot of foot customers walking on the pavements. Baring in mind this was a Monday night at about 7.30 pm, I was very pleasantly surprised at how busy everywhere seemed.


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[caller]

Bkk seems pretty busy as well. Lots of unmasked tourists on the BTS and in the Malls. Thankfully, they don't much pollute the area where I stay. Interesting that Thai authorities are now talking of the current influx being due to 'pent up demand for travel' and implying it won't last.

[buksida]

Thailand tourism may see a decline next year
Despite conflicting optimistic predictions, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is warning that Thai tourism may take a sharp downturn next year. While international travellers are flocking to Thailand now, industry experts fear that it may be a flood of pent-up demand and, by next year, all those who waited through the whole pandemic to get to Thailand will have already booked and taken their trips.

TAT Governor Yuthasak Supasorn explained that, for nearly three years, people could not travel and take holidays due to Covid-19 pandemic restrictions. Once Thailand began reopening, many overly-eager people raced to enter the country. And since all the restrictions were lifted last month, many people who have been waiting impatiently booked their trips to come during this High Season.

But, the TAT governor fears that all those people will finish their travel by March, and tourism in Thailand will see a big dip as factors level out. The reality of global recession, extreme inflation, and the high prices of plane tickets and travel costs will set in and cause potential travellers to delay or cancel their holidays.

https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/tourism ... -next-year

Its hard to tell, but most of the people that have flocked here in recent months seem to be regulars or returning expats/snowbirds that were locked out for nearly 3 years, there are certainly no new faces around where we live. Once it is out of their system, they may go elsewhere next year due to the escalating costs of coming to Thailand for just a few weeks.

[Big Boy]

They were 5 abreast on Soi 94 less than an hour ago when I drove through, but looking into the bars, they were still quite empty.

[caller]

The beach at Takiap was empty yesterday when I was there, but a much fuller car park today with a good smattering of mainly elderly farangs taking up the front line of the umbrellas, but empty behind.

[Ratsima]

We've had the opportunity (?) to stay in Jomtien several times over the past couple of several years; most recently several times this month and last. We've both been surprised at the number of tourists around now as compared to a month go. They seem to be mostly Russians with a smattering of Northern Europeans. The bar we usually hit at sunset (Akvavit) had no seats at the bar; ditto with Hemingway's. Sidewalks are crowded. Other restaurants and bars that were dead not long ago are busy again. The Blue Flower Bar (Jomtien Soi 2) was dead empty a year ago, but full of drinkers when I walked by at 4:00 in the afternoon. Anyway, nice to see signs of life.

[buksida]

Have just spent a long weekend in Hua Hin and noticed that the farang numbers are up, but they may not all be 'tourists' as such. I doubt TAT differentiates for its BS figures anyway.

There were more farangs than Thais in Makro on Monday (most shopping with their Thai partners), and I doubt that two-week tourists would go to Makro. Food halls such as the Hanoi place off Soi 94 were the busiest I've seen them since pre-covid, though not quite as rammed as they were in 2019.

Bars and restaurants were mostly busy, though we didn't venture into the downtown Binta area (and rarely do). Things seem to have picked up (in HH at least), but may all come crashing back down again when the high season ends in February.

[buksida]

The junta is working hard to cancel new year celebrations around the country. "Come to Thailand and see in the new year ... no, wait, we're going to ban it."

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More: https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/po ... ye-caution